Sheet plicating device

ABSTRACT

Plicating device or jet for receiving a material in continuous, band, ribbon or sheet-like form, uniformly plicating and compacting the material into a shape of relatively low crosssectional area, and presenting the plicated and compacted material through an exit for further processing. The jet folds and condenses the material so that the axis of the fold is generally parallel to the direction of travel of the material. The position and amplitude of each fold as well as the degree of compacting is highly controlled. The device is formed to provide a slot-like band inlet communicating with a venturi connected to a gas inlet to transport the band to a folding cavity having nested vanes around which the band is plicated along its direction of travel.

United States Patent [191 Bevington, Jr.

[111 3,831,501 Aug. 27, 1974 SHEET PLICATING DEVICE [75] Inventor:Richard E. Bevington, Jr.,

Kingsport, Tenn.

[73] Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company,

Rochester, NY.

[22] Filed: July 16, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 379,533

52 US. c1..". 93/1 c, 93/1 wz, 93/84 R, 93/84 FF [51] Int. Cl B3lf 1/08[58] Field of Search 93/1 C, 77 FT, 60, 1 W2,

93/84 R, 84 FF; 156/161, 166

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,164,702 7/1939 Davidson93/1 0 3,150,576 9/1964 Gewiss 93/84 FF 3,205,791 9/1965 Goodfellow etal 93/] C 3,348,458 10/1967 Tipper 93/84 R 3,383,449 5/1968 Muller 93/lC 3,621,764 ll/l97l Muller et al. 93/l C Primary Examiner -Roy LakeAssistant Examiner-James F. Coan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Donald W.Spurrell [57] ABSTRACT Plicating device or jet for receiving a materialin continuous, band, ribbon or sheet-like form, uniformly plicating andcompacting the material into a shape of relatively low cross-sectionalarea, and presenting the plicated and compacted material through an exitfor further processing. The jet folds and condenses the material so thatthe axis of the fold is generally parallel to the direction of travel ofthe material. The position and amplitude of each fold as well as thedegree of compacting is highly controlled. The device is formed toprovide a slot-like band inlet communicating with a venturi connected toa gas inlet to transport the band to a folding cavity having nestedvanes around which the band is plicated along its direction of travel.

22 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures SHEET PLICATING DEVICE This inventionconcerns a plicating device or jet for receiving a material incontinuous ribbon or sheet-like form, uniformly plicating and compactingthe material into a shape of relatively low cross-sectional area, andpresenting the plicated and compacted material through an exit forfurther processing. The jet folds and condenses the material so that theaxis of the fold is generally parallel to the direction of travel of thematerial. The position and amplitude of each fold as well as the degreeof compacting is highly controlled.

The invention, in more specific embodiments, concerns the adaptation ofthe plicating jet to cigarette filter rod or plug making machines and tofilters made in accordance with the present invention wherein thefiltering medium is accurately and uniformly plicated in the filter rodto impart highly desirable characteristics thereto.

Various forms of sheet folding devices are, of course, known for foldingsuch materials as paper,'cardboard and the like. These devices aresatisfactory up to the point where the fragile nature or pliability ofthe sheet overcomes the capability of the feeding or take-off mechanismto function at high speed without rupturing the sheet or pulling orstretching it out of shape. This is particularly true in the case offabric sheets, especially nonwoven materials, which must be folded orcompressed but thereafter used in a way which demands a high degree ofdimensional accuracy and density or weight consistency. I

A particularly demanding application for folding devices is for nonwovenbands or sheets as in the manufacture of cigarette filters whereinpressure drop or draw is important and related to such factors asweight, crimp, and density of the tow throughout the rod. In suchmanufacture, the folding or plicating of the tow which then feeds intothe gamiture of the plug maker such as that shown in US. Pat. Nos.3,205,107; 3,107,309; 3,345,9l7; and 3,297,512, the disclosures of thesepatents being incorporated herein by reference, must not significantlyalter the tow in regard to its bulk, crimp, density and the like bymeans of undue tension, drag, friction or other unregulated operatingcharacteristics of the device.

Objects therefore of the invention are: to provide a plicating devicefor sheet material, including paper, plastics, nonwoven natural andsynthetics, which minimizes changes in the physical characteristics ofthe material during the plicating operation; to provide such a devicewhich operates with no moving parts and which can be assembled anddisassembled with ease; to provide such a device which can be readilyinstalled on commercial filter plug machines; to provide such machineswith the plicating device attached; and to provide cigarette filterrods, filters, and cigarettes having the filters produced in accordancewith the present invention.

These and other objects hereinafter appearing have been attained inaccordance with the present plicating device hereinafter described indetail and which may be defined in its broad sense as a band plicatingdevice comprising a housing having upper, lower and side wall meansdefining a folding cavity, said wall means further providing a bandfeeding slot opening into one end of said cavity, a plicated band outletexiting from the other end, and a gas inlet communicating with saidslot,

the ratio of height to width of said outlet being greater than that ofsaid slot, a plurality of upper vanes spaced across said cavity andsupported by said upper wall means, said vanes extending generallytoward said band outlet from a point adjacent the junction of saidfeeding slot and said cavity and extending downwardly into said cavityto a point spaced from said lower wall means, a plurality of lower vanesspaced across said cavity and supported by said lower wall means, saidlower vanes extending generally toward said band outlet from a pointadjacent the junction of said feeding slot and said cavity and extendingupwardly into said cavity to a point spaced from said upper wall means,said upper and lower vanes being spaced from and projecting between eachother to give an undulated configuration to said cavity along itstransverse axis.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description and drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view'of the plicating jet;

' FIG. 2 is a partially sectional, isometric view of the plicating jetwith the top lifted and rotated back 90;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the jet;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along line 44 in thedirection of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a variation of the jet;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of the jet attached to the gamituretongue of a plug maker; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the garniture of FIG. 6 withplicated tow therein, taken along line 7-7 FIGS. 2 and 3, wall means l4,l6 and 18 may be formed and arranged to provide a plenum chamber 20which may be of any suitable configuration and size, a transporting orworking gas inlet or'venturi 22 and a band feeding slot 24. Chamber 20is preferably baffled by one or more apertured plates 26 to distributegas flowing in through line 28 uniformly across inlet 22 and itsjunction with slot 24. A jet plate 25 adjustable longitudinally of thedevice by means of adjustment slots 27, and extending throughout thewidth of slot 24 may be provided to achieve the best air flow through 22for feeding the material in 24.

A plurality of upper vanes 30 are supported by wall means 12 and areadapted to project or nest between a plurality of lower vanes 32supported by lower wall means 14. The spacing of the upper and lowervanes from each other and from the opposite walls is such that thematerial being folded 34 can easily pass therebetween.

As shown in FIGS. 2-4, vanes 30 and 32 extend generally toward theplicated band outlet 36, and in this embodiment are actually angledtheretoward, such that their longitudinal axes would converge at somepoint downstream of their ends 38. Also, in this embodiment, both theupper and lower vanesincrease in depth in substantially the samedirection, that is, toward lower wall 14 from the plane of wall 12. Asshown in FIG. 5, the depth of the vanes 30 and 32 could increase in bothdirections from a common plane, and the outer edges of the vanes couldhave a variety of configurations such as the arcuate shape of theleading end 40, and the straight configuration of section 42. Also, thevanes could extend the full length of the folding cavity 19 as shown inFIG. 5. A plurality of gas outlets 44 may be provided conveniently inupper wall means 12 or lower wall means 14, or both so that excessivegas pressure will not be felt in the garniture of the plug maker anddisrupt further operations such as tow compression, filter tip paperwrapping, and sticking of the filter tip paper adhesive. l0

Referring to FIG. 6, the plicating jet is shown attached to the plugmaker such that the outlet 36 is adjacent the garniture tongue 46. Thisattachment may be made conveniently by providing a flange 48 on the endof the plicating jet for securement to a mating flange 50 on thegarniture tongue by bolts 52. The plicating jet may be furtherstabilized or secured in position relative to the garniture solely, forexample, by suitable brackets secured thereto and to the base or otherrigid portions of the plug maker. The particular garniture configurationis not critical to the invention, the garniture serving as shown in FIG.7 to wrap the filter tip paper 55 transported by an endless belt or tape57, by means of tapered grooved bottom plate 54 and the outsides 56 and58 of the garniture tongue walls, around the plasticized, plicating tow34 in preparation for application of the adhesive to the filter tippaper. In this FIG. 7 the folded tow is shown in an expanded, enlargedcondition for purposes of clarity.

In FIG. 4, upper wall 12 is shown as nesting in grooves 60 and 62 inside walls 16 and 18, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the mating tabs64 and 66, respectively, on upper wall 12 and the side walls, formingtheir adjacent associated slots 68 and 70, allow wall 12 to bepositioned adjacent the grooves, and, upon forward sliding motioninserted into the grooves with tabs 64 positioned under tabs 66, in africtional manner. This construction provides an extremely convenientmeans for allowing rapid assembly and disassembly of the device as maybecome necessary for cleaning thereof or for manual manipulation of thetow band. Handle 72 is of further convenience in removing wall 12.

EXAMPLE A plicating jet embodying the present invention was installedbetween a cellulose acetate filter tow blooming process which included abanding air jet, a set of deregistering rolls, and a triacetinplasticizer applicaclamping the working gas pipe which was connectedinto the plenum chamber 20 to the base of the plasticizer and deliveryroll portion of the blooming process unit which in turn was secured tothe plug maker. The cellulose acetate filter tow in the form of a flatband as shown, for example, as 11 in US. Pat. No. 3,017,309 previouslyincorporated herein by reference, was directed from the blooming processdelivery rolls into the band feeding slot 24. The plate 25 had beenadjusted so that approximately 50 scfm of air moved through venturi 22,plenum pressure was maintained at 10 psig, and air was sucked into bandfeeding slot 24 with the tow. The tow band was carried through slot 24into contact with the air from 22 and the air and tow passed into thefolding cavity 19 where the air stream and the tow were transformed froma flat ribbon shape into a plicated shape by the vanes therein. Thevertical side walls 16 and 18 converged along the length of the foldingcavity and therebeyond while the upper and lower walls diverged from thejunction of 22 and 24 toward the band outlet. The cross-sectional areaof cavity 19 adjacent the ends 38 of the vanes was slightly greater thanat the front of said cavity, that is, the portion adjacent the junctionof feed slot 24 and venturi 22.

The sheet of tow, following the path of the air stream in which it wascarried, bent to conform to the space between the vanes so that, at theend of the vanes, the tow had been transformed from a ribbon or flatband shape to a plicated shape. The tow was further compressed in thesection between the end of the vanes and the tow outlet. This section ofthe apparatus converged in the direction of tow travel. This convergencefurther compressed the tow and reduced the cross-sectional area of thetow bundle to approximately the size of the entrance of the garniture onthe plug maker. The condensing funnel, horn or trumpet such as shown inUS. Pat. No. 3,017,309 was eliminated. The upper and lower walls of thisconverging section were ventilated by small holes so that the air usedto convey the tow was vented to the atmosphere, leaving the tow in a lowtension, well compacted form that had regained crimp by being relaxedfrom the tension state developed during prior deregistration of thefiber crimp. The tow at this point in the apparatus was a preciselyfolded, uniform bundle which was then fed into the garniture of theaforesaid Molins plug maker which produced the finished rods. These rodswere characterized by highly uniform pressure drops as shown in thefollowing Table I with particular reference to the markedly reducedcoefficients of variation obtained by the present invention. Theapparatus employed in obtaining the data of Table 1 is that shown inDefensive Publication T874,005 dated May 19, 1970, wherein the plicatingdevice replaces the condensing trumpet 10 and photocell 40.

TABLE I Tow 3.3 d/f, 39,000 total denier Average Pressure Tow Feed Drop,Inches Standard Coefficient of jet The invention is applicable to anyflexible material capable of air jet handling, such as continuousfilament tow, a tow formed from staple fiber, woven or nonwovenmaterial, or a mixture of several materials. The material could be fedto the plicating device in any form capable of jet handling, such ascontinuous sheets, ribbons, tubular form, U-shaped, or the like. Thefeeding inlet 24 could be any desired configuration includingrectangular, circular, square, crescent, elliptical, or other suchforms.

The venturi 22 could be a plurality of slots, or a slot formed orsupplemented with a combination of types or shapes of passagewaysdesigned to achieve a desired effect with the particular material beinghandled. For example, it could be formed from a series of holes ofcircular or other cross-sectional shapes, some or all of which would bebiased to provide for material forwarding characteristics. Thispassageway could also be connected to a common plenum orto severalplenums, or to a combination of plenums which provide different gases atdifferent pressures for achieving a desired effect.

The transporting gas or fluid could be compressed gases, pressurizedliquids, steam, special treating mediums such as plasticizer vapors, ora combination of several types of fluids. In addition, this working ortransporting fluid could be supplied to 22 in a continuous manner,pulsed, modulated, or as a combination thereof in the case ofmulti-fluid treatment of the material.

The vanes in the folding cavity could also be used for further treatmentof the material, such as to heat or cool the transporting gas and thematerial, or as a supply point for adding a secondary treating orworking fluid such as ink, dye, plasticizer, or steam. In addition, thevanes themselves could be vented to a vacuum chamber or to theatmosphere to remove part or all of the working fluid from the foldingcavity. The vanes could also be aided or replaced in some applicationsof this invention by properly biased and controlled jets which woulddivert the mixture of working fluid and material in a manner similar tothe vanes.

The tow outlet could be any shape compatible with the flow of thematerial in its exit form. It could be the termination of a convergingsection, or a diverging section, and could be formed to interface withbelts, rolls, jets, or other material forwarding means.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail withparticular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof,variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scopeof the invention.

1 claim:

1. A band plicating device comprising a housing having upper, lower andside wall means defining a folding cavity, said wall means furtherproviding a band feeding slot opening into one end of said cavity, aplicated band outlet exiting from the other end, and a gas inletcommunicating with said slot, the ratio of height to width of saidoutlet being greater than that of said slot, a plurality of upper vanesspaced across said cavity and supported by said upper wall means, saidvanes extending generally toward said band outlet from a point adjacentthe junction of said feeding slot and said cavity and extendingdownwardly into said cavity to a point spaced from said lower wallmeans, a plurality of lower vanes spaced across said cavity andsupported by said upper and lower vanes increases over at least asubstanlower wall means, said lower vanes extending generally towardsaid band outlet from a point adjacent the junction of said feeding slotand said cavity and extending upwardly into said cavity to a pointspaced from said upper wall means, said upper and lower vanes beingspaced from and projecting between each other to give an undulatedconfiguration to said cavity along its transverse axis.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said feeding slot extends substantiallyacross the full width of said cavity.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said upper and lower vanes project intosaid cavity substantially normally to the transverse axis of saidfeeding slot.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein the depth of said upper and lower vanesincreases over at least a substantial portion of their length from saidpoint adjacent said juction.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein the forward portion of at least one ofsaid upper and lower wall means is formed to provide said gas inletwhich communicates directly with said slot substantially along theentire width of said slot, and is oriented relative to said slot andsaid folding cavity to direct gas into said slot in the generaldirection of said cavity.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein the longitudinal axes of said ridgesconverge downstream thereof.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein said side wall means converge frompoints approximately adjacent the trans verse ends of said band feedingslot to the sides of said band outlet.

8. The device of claim 2 wherein said upper and lower vanes project intosaid cavity substantially normally to the transverse axis of saidfeeding slot.

9. The device of claim 8 wherein the depth of said 10. The device ofclaim 9 wherein the forward portion of at least one of said upper andlower wall means is formed to provide said gas inlet which communicatesdirectly with said slot substantially along the entire width of saidslot, and is oriented relative to said slot and said folding cavity todirect gas into said slot in the general direction of said cavity.

11. The device of claim 10 wherein the longitudinal axes of said vanesconverge downstream thereof.

12. The device of claim 11 wherein said sidewall means converge frompoints approximately adjacent the transverse ends of said band feedingslot to the sides of said band outlet.

13. The device of claim 4 wherein the forward ends of said upper andlower vanes are tangential to their supporting wall means.

14. The device of claim 1 wherein said band outlet is substantiallyround. I

15. The device of claim 1 wherein said wall means are formed to providea baffled plenum chamber for distributing gas substantially uniformly tosaid slot across substantially its full width.

16. The device of claim 1 assembled on a filter rod making machine withthe outlet of the device adjacent the tongue of the garniture.

17. The device of claim 8 assembled on a filter rod making machine withthe outlet of the device adjacent the tongue of the garniture.

the tongue of the garniture.

21. The device of claim 12 assembled on a filter rod making machine withthe outlet of the device adjacent the tongue of the garniture.

22. The device of claim 15 assembled on a filter rod making machine withthe outlet of the device adjacent the tongue of the garniture.

1. A band plicating device comprising a housing having upper, lower andside wall means defining a folding cavity, said wall means furtherproviding a band feeding slot opening into one end of said cavity, aplicated band outlet exiting from the other end, and a gas inletcommunicating with said slot, the ratio of height to width of saidoutlet being greater than that of said slot, a plurality of upper vanesspaced across said cavity and supported by said upper wall means, saidvanes extending generally toward said band outlet from a point adjacentthe junction of said feeding slot and said cavity and extendingdownwardly into said cavity to a point spaced from said lower wallmeans, a plurality of lower vanes spaced across said cavity andsupported by said lower wall means, said lower vanes extending generallytoward said band outlet from a point adjacent the junction of saidfeeding slot and said cavity and extending upwardly into said cavity toa point spaced from said upper wall means, said upper and lower vanesbeing spaced from and projecting between each other to give an undulatedconfiguration to said cavity along its transverse axis.
 2. The device ofclaim 1 wherein said feeding slot extends substantially across the fullwidth of said cavity.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein said upper andlower vanes project into said cavity substantially normally to thetransverse axis of said feeding slot.
 4. The device of claim 1 whereinthe depth of said upper and lower vanes increases over at least asubstantial portion of their length from said point adjacent saidjuction.
 5. The device of claim 1 wherein the forward portion of atleast one of said upper and lower wall means is formed to provide saidgas inlet which communicates directly with said slot substantially alongthe entire width of said slot, and is oriented relative to said slot andsaid folding cavity to direct gas into said slot in the generaldirection of said cavity.
 6. The device of claim 1 wherein thelongitudinal axes of said ridges converge downstream thereof.
 7. Thedevice of claim 1 wherein said side wall means converge from pointsapproximately adjacent the transverse ends of said band feeding slot tothe sides of said band outlet.
 8. The device of claim 2 wherein saidupper and lower vanes project into said cavity substantially normally tothe transverse axis of said feeding slot.
 9. The device of claim 8wherein the depth of said upper and lower vanes increases over at leasta substantial portion of their length from said point adjacent saidjunction.
 10. The device of claim 9 wherein the forward portion of atleast one of said upper and lower wall means is formed to provide saidgas inlet which communicates directly with said slot substantially alongthe entire width of said slot, and is oriented relative to said slot andsaid foldIng cavity to direct gas into said slot in the generaldirection of said cavity.
 11. The device of claim 10 wherein thelongitudinal axes of said vanes converge downstream thereof.
 12. Thedevice of claim 11 wherein said side wall means converge from pointsapproximately adjacent the transverse ends of said band feeding slot tothe sides of said band outlet.
 13. The device of claim 4 wherein theforward ends of said upper and lower vanes are tangential to theirsupporting wall means.
 14. The device of claim 1 wherein said bandoutlet is substantially round.
 15. The device of claim 1 wherein saidwall means are formed to provide a baffled plenum chamber fordistributing gas substantially uniformly to said slot acrosssubstantially its full width.
 16. The device of claim 1 assembled on afilter rod making machine with the outlet of the device adjacent thetongue of the garniture.
 17. The device of claim 8 assembled on a filterrod making machine with the outlet of the device adjacent the tongue ofthe garniture.
 18. The device of claim 9 assembled on a filter rodmaking machine with the outlet of the device adjacent the tongue of thegarniture.
 19. The device of claim 10 assembled on a filter rod makingmachine with the outlet of the device adjacent the tongue of thegarniture.
 20. The device of claim 11 asembled on a filter rod makingmachine with the outlet of the device adjacent the tongue of thegarniture.
 21. The device of claim 12 assembled on a filter rod makingmachine with the outlet of the device adjacent the tongue of thegarniture.
 22. The device of claim 15 assembled on a filter rod makingmachine with the outlet of the device adjacent the tongue of thegarniture.